Ask Chattanooga City Council Not to Fund Zoo Expansion

The City of Chattanooga already funds the Chattanooga Zoo to the tune of $700,000 annually from tax payers' money. For 2018, the city is looking at spending an additional $250,000 for an expansion that would include bringing in giraffes and lions. We ask those who live in, who work in or who visit Chattanooga to sign this petition and ask city council representatives to vote no on funding the zoo expansion at their meeting on Tuesday night.

If you are a Chattanooga resident, please state that in your comments on the petition and give the district in which you live. If you are a person who works in or visits Chattanooga, let city council representatives know how a decision to fund the zoo expansion will change your perception of Chattanooga as a modern, progressive city.

Reasons why we oppose spending money on a Chattanooga Zoo expansion:

1) The city's residents have pressing needs -- lack of access to housing and food to name just a couple. Funding should be directed to improving the lives of those who live here rather than a zoo expansion.

2) This is an investment in animal cruelty and animal exploitation. Giraffes are frequently decapitated during transport. Lions are animals born to hunt on distant savannas, not languish in pens in Tennessee.

3) Zoos are losing popularity and are not modern attractions. For a city that prides itself on being modern, an investment in a zoo expansion makes absolutely no sense. As animal welfare concerns become mainstream social justice issues, with countless examples -- from Marius the giraffe to Harambe the gorilla -- before the public of why zoos are not good places for animals, people are spending entertainment budgets elsewhere.